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Concerned that less than 1% of independent pharmacies belong to the SureScripts electronic prescribing network, the National Community Pharmacists Association has urged its members to get into the connectivity game.

Congress is one step closer to cutting billions of dollars from the Medicaid budget, by reducing pharmacies' reimbursement, increasing patients' co-pays, and other measures. Committees in both houses have approved their own budget bill, which must be reconciled in the weeks ahead. Both NACDS and NCPA protested that the cuts affect community pharmacies disproportionately. NCPA said up to 40% of community pharmacies could close their doors and many Medicaid patients would lose access to care. for earlier story on Medicaid.

Public interest groups to FDA: Ban triclosan products Expert panel reevaluates DEHP Wyeth files petition over bio-identical HRT Kentucky Renaissance Pharmacy Museum opens Personal Products to acquire Rembrandt from Gillette Delsym launches campaign to healthcare professionals Abbott issues urgent correction for blood glucose meters Genco acquires Capital Returns Walgreens to acquire selected assets of Medic drugstores Tennessee pharmacy school names first dean Express Scripts completes Priority purchase VA warns vets of Rx scam Public Citizen to FDA: ED drugs need black box warning Rite Aid offering flu, pneumonia shots

Discriminatory pricing suit brings results Insulin cleared for use among children USP to reassess its Medicare formulary guidelines NQF issues new report on drug compliance ShopKo to be acquired by Sun Capital Partners Watson becomes distributor of generic OxyContin FDA gives update on influenza vaccine supply States protest contributions to drug plan

In the mid-1800s, Lady Sarah Winchester spearheaded the building of the bizarre California mansion that bears her name. While she did have a flair for design, her spontaneous plans and the results proved chaotic. Staircases led nowhere. Many doors opened to walls or steep drops, and a few bathroom doors had windows. The Victorian anomaly may be fun to visit, but it would be frustrating to live in.

Early in his pharmacy career Victor Perini, R.Ph., hadn't planned on becoming a hospital executive. But as he reflects on his current position as VP of operations at Methodist University Hospital in Memphis, Perini attributes his rise in the executive ranks to a combination of taking advantage of the right opportunities when they came along and the comprehensive training that he received in pharmacy school at the University of Wisconsin.

Of the 3,197 sentinel events JCAHO has reviewed from January 1995 through June 30, 2005, almost 11%, or 326 incidents, involved a medication error, making it the fourth most common type of sentinel event reported.

Baxter Healthcare Corp. has received a second Food & Drug Administration Class 1 recall in less than four months for its Colleague Volumetric Infusion Pumps. The FDA's Sept. 19 recall relates to pump battery excessive discharge and swelling failures, which cause the devices to become incapable of operating on battery power for the expected amount of time. This leads to interruption or prevention of therapy and possible death or injury. Baxter said it has received reports from customers that the problem may have been associated with four deaths and 10 serious injuries.

VHA has resurrected a familiar method for hospitals to save money: Trim pharmacy costs. But instead of urging its 2,400 member hospitals to simply slash pharmacy budgets, the not-for-profit hospital alliance is helping members save by shifting prescribing practices.

What's in a name? Plenty, it seems, when it comes to medications.

A huge focus on patient safety, a severe nursing shortage, and a shift in philosophy about how traditional medicine has come to view the role of pharmacy have led to health-system pharmacists playing a much larger role in critical care and emergency medicine. Nationwide, especially at large tertiary care centers, pharmacists have become permanent and welcome members of healthcare teams in intensive care units, trauma centers, and coronary care units. The demand for pharmacists is so great that some facilities have developed critical care residencies for pharmacists.

Current safe-handling procedures for vials containing chemotherapy products are apparently insufficient. Recent U.S. and European tests have determined that product residues adhering to the outside of chemotherapy vials are a pharmacy hazard.

Even though the law was adopted two years ago, many pharmacists are just now waking up to the fact that there's a Medicare prescription drug benefit heading straight for their pharmacy counters, according to the president of the American Pharmacists Association.

The statin drugs have so thoroughly dominated the market for treating high cholesterol levels and dyslipidemia that many in the healthcare community may need to be reminded that other medications still have their place. Patients who cannot regulate their lipid levels by means of lifestyle changes or for whom statins are not sufficiently effective can be treated with drugs such as fibrates, niacin, and with combination therapies.

A new, gel-based, delivery system containing a common benzodiazepine may provide a needed safety net for patients with epilepsy who are refractory to traditional mono- and combination pharmacotherapy and who experience bouts of increased seizure activity. Last month, Valeant Pharmaceuticals announced that it had received Food & Drug Administration approval to market Diastat AcuDial (diazepam rectal gel).

Drug wholesalers should be licensed by the federal government instead of state pharmacy boards, according to a position paper issued by the Healthcare Distribution Management Association (HDMA).

Nevada mandates Rx transfer Wal-Mart tops with Medicare crowd Longs Drug Stores raises funds for hurricane victims Survey: Women at risk of taking pregnancy test too early Wyeth's smallpox vaccine to carry black box warning MedVantx forms alliance with Aetna Specialty pharmacies change hands Pharmacy board executives leaving Second expert resigns over FDA delay on Plan B FDA removes sinusitis indication from OTCs Bristol-Myers Squibb reports BiCNU outage Berlex donates Rx medication to hurricane victims Keltsch Pharmacy changes name

As this editorial goes to press, we're hearing the first details about which Medicare prescription drug plans (PDPs) have received approval from CMS.

Last month's column addressed Medicare prescription drug benefits for persons with Medicare and low incomes. This group includes about six million people who are enrolled in Medicaid; they will be enrolled automatically in a prescription drug plan (PDP) if they do not choose a plan on their own. Another eight million people with limited income and assets are eligible for assistance with paying the premium and out-of-pocket expenses under the Part D program. The Social Security Administration is now accepting applications for assistance and is able to answer individual questions about the various Part D options.

I told my brother, "I'm not going to write about it." I was stubborn. "Too many people are writing about it." I was speaking about the refusal of a small group of pharmacists to fill legal prescriptions based on their uncompromising moral stance.

Ten states have the lowest level of pharmacist shortage in this country. At the top of the heap is Hawaii, followed by Rhode Island, South Dakota, North Dakota, Delaware, Nebraska, New Jersey, Vermont, Idaho, and Montana. Most of these states, with the exception of New Jersey, have fairly small populations.

With only three months to D-Day, as in Medicare Part D, many unanswered questions about how the prescription drug program will be implemented and how it will impact pharmacy are causing a lot of unease, according to members of the Drug Topics Editorial Advisory Board.

The FDA has granted priority review status to the New Drug Application for sorafenib for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma. Sorafenib is an oral multi-kinase inhibitor—under development by Bayer Pharmaceuticals and Onyx Pharmaceuticals—that targets tumor cell growth and angiogenesis by blocking both the RAF kinase and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor.

Treatment outcomes for alcoholism are likely to improve significantly in the next decade. However, in order to provide these treatments, a new paradigm and structure are needed that will integrate alcohol treatment with mainstream medical and mental health care.

Women in menopause, particularly when it is surgically induced, often suffer decreased sexual desire and activity, even if they are on estrogen replacement therapy.

Pharmacist, get your flu shot! That's the admonition from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and ASHP.

With the launch of Actoplus met (Takeda Pharmaceuticals) on Oct. 24, it's going to be easier for patients to treat their Type 2 diabetes with just one tablet. Although Actos (pioglitazone) has been indicated for use in conjunction with metformin for some time, combination therapy has necessitated a prescription for each. As a pioglitazone/metformin combination, Actoplus met offers convenience, greater patient compliance, and perhaps an improvement in diabetes outcomes.

CMS has approved Community Care Rx (CCRx) as one of 10 national Medicare Part D prescription drug plan sponsors. NCPA, MemberHealth Inc., and Computer Sciences Corp. created CCRx as a Medicare-approved discount card program that was expanded to become a full Rx plan. CCRx will offer three plans with premiums ranging from $26.25 to $45.23. Services offered include 90-day scripts at retail and pharmacist-provided medication therapy management services for qualified beneficiaries.

The problem of serious physical risks associated with medications is not going away. Consider the following recent drug recalls: Vioxx (rofecoxib, Merck), Bextra (valdecoxib, Pfizer), and Tysabri (natalizumab, Biogen Idec).